Tuesday, April 12, 2005

'Distinguished' teacher Lyndon Jones of the optometry school --
photo by Barbara Elve

Optometry's master of PowerPoint

One of the winners of this year's
Distinguished
Teacher Awards is
Lyndon Jones of the UW school of optometry. This citation -- the
first in a series -- is
provided by the teaching resource office, which helps to administer
the awards.

Lyndon Jones, an Associate Professor, has been teaching undergraduates
and graduates in the School of Optometry
since October 1998. For four consecutive years since his arrival, he
won the Optometry Student Society's
Distinguished Professor Award. Students comment that he "is able to
make the most complicated of subjects both interesting and simple" and
that his lectures are "interesting, relevant and well-presented."

Professor Jones connects the background theory with clinical practices
through his mastery of PowerPoint. He includes relevant diagrams,
videos, and up-to-date information so the students can see real world
applications of theory. Additionally, Lyndon integrates his own
research and past experiences into his lectures. He is also known as a
person who encourages discussions in the classroom. Outside of the
classroom, students find Lyndon Jones to be approachable and always
willing to help.

Lyndon, a superb ambassador to this institution, strives to help
improve education in Optometry in general. He was involved in the
establishment of Optometric Educators Ltd. in the United Kingdom, a
company devoted to motivating continuing education in Optometry. He
also gives lectures to Optometrists internationally about the
improvements in Optometric education. Lyndon uses the same teaching
strategies in these lectures as he does in the university classroom
setting.

Showing great involvement with the teaching community and having
lasting appeal with students, this DTA recipient is described by one
student as follows: "Dr. Jones has realized that he has a flame, and a
responsibility to pass that flame on to the future generations of
optometrists."

Grants offered for learning innovation

Faculty members are being invited to apply for this year's grants
from the Learning Initiatives Fund, says
a memo from the associate
vice-president (learning resources and innovation), Tom Carey.

UW, he writes, "is committed to enhancing the quality of
the learning experience for our students and to continuing our history
of innovative approaches to learning and teaching. The Learning
Initiatives Fund will assist departments, schools and Faculties in
projects that enhance undergraduate student learning and support the
strategic plans of the academic units.

"Proposals are requested from faculty, departments and schools to
enhance current learning outcomes in UW undergraduate courses through
changes in instructional methods, learning resources, and curricula."

Proposals are due by May 6 (three copies of the application, sent
to Verna Keller in the teaching resource
office) Results will be announced by May 20, and
funding for projects will be available as of June 1.

Says the memo: "Priority will be given to proposals with a research-based approach to
enhancing learning outcomes in the proposed project, and/or with
potential for application in other departments and schools. For
example, a department may request funds to develop a new instructional
resource -- a course manual or exercise, an interactive online
tutorial, a repository of case studies -- to address a specific course
topic or a skill common to several undergraduate courses. Projects
must be completed within two years, and applicants can request support
of $5,000 to $20,000 from the Learning Initiatives Fund. Requests to
purchase equipment will only be considered in the context of an
enhancement to teaching methods. Requests for new course development
are not eligible."

Proposals will be assessed by Carey and the associate vice-president
(academic), Gail Cuthbert Brandt. The provost will make the final
decisions, the memo says.

"Assistance on educational objectives, innovations in learning, and
evaluation of learning outcomes" is available from
the
teaching resource office or
faculty liaisons in the
Centre for Learning and Teaching Through Technology.

"We are proud to continue to support the actuarial science programs
offered at the University of Waterloo," says Jim Brierley, the
company's president. "Waterloo has provided Munich Re with outstanding
graduates over the years and we are happy to contribute to the
continuing growth of actuarial science education in Canada."

Beginning in September, the Munich Re Leadership Award will be
awarded based on academic excellence, leadership and community
involvement. Munich Re's initial commitment is to offer the award
for a three-year period. Award recipients will be in second year, and
the scholarship will help pay for third and fourth year studies.

A statement from UW president David Johnston thanks the
company for "continued generous support . . . this
support of student awards is
instrumental in attracting top-ranked students to our leading
actuarial science program." He adds that
"Actuarial science is a fundamental pillar of the knowledge-based
society. The
Waterloo program is at the forefront in research,
teaching, service to industry and enhancement of the actuarial
profession."

Sabbaticals that began January 1

Here's another list of UW faculty members who are away
from their usual haunts for sabbatical leaves that began
January 1, 2005.

Norman Zhou of mechanical engineering is on a six-month
sabbatical "to gain experience in research areas, such as in microelectronics
soldering, three-dimensional numerical modeling and process monitoring
and control, and foster collaborations in materials jointing
research among the University of Seoul, Tsinghua University and
University of Waterloo".

Catherine Schryer of the English department has a twelve-month
sabbatical. "My sabbatical plan has three components: completing a
book-length manuscript on the results of a completed SSHRC study on
healthcare communication; setting up a case study (also supported by
SSHRC) investigating the role of electronic record keeping in
facilitating (or not) team communication among healthcare providers;
and preparing a grant to extend my research group's investigation of health
care communication in online environments."

Douglas Stinson of computer science is on sabbatical for six
months: "I will be working on completion of the third edition of
Cryptography: Theory and Practice, a popular textbook on
cryptography, and continuation of collaborative research projects on
the interplay of cryptography, combinatorics and coding theory."

John Vanderkooy of physics is also on sabbatical for six months,
"to investigate what happens to the breakup modes of a loudspeaker when
the magnetic circuit is substantially strengthened, (and) to attempt to
characterize the non-Newtonian behaviour of loudspeaker spiders and
surrounds, which often causes discrepancies when a simple linear
model is used".

M. M. Vijanyan of biology is on sabbatical through December. "I will be
conducting collaborative research overseas. The objectives are to
learn new techniques, and study animal models in their native
environment. For instance, understanding the molecular mechanisms
that allow fish species to tolerate environmental extremes, such as
hypoxia, anoxia, hyperthermia and ammonia."

Michael MacDonald of English has a six-month leave "to further my
study of Agon: Between Philosophy and Rhetoric and to develop
research into an understanding of Marshall McLuhan and Gilles Deleuze".

Robert Prus of sociology is also on leave for six months. "As part
of a broader, ongoing sociological venture that focuses on pragmatist
scholarship pertaining to 'the study of human knowing and acting', I
will be examining the texts of specific classical Greek and Latin,
as well as various interim and contemporary, scholars in order to
achieve more comprehensive, analytically comparative, enduring,
and precise conceptual understandings of human lived experience."